Expediting pathogen genomics adoption for enhanced foodborne disease surveillance in Africa.

The role of genomics in public health surveillance has been accentuated by its crucial contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating its potential in addressing global disease outbreaks. While Africa has made strides in expanding multi-pathogen genomic surveillance, the integration into foodborne disease (FBD) surveillance remains nascent. Here we highlight the critical components to strengthen and scale-up the integration of whole genome sequencing (WGS) in foodborne disease surveillance across the continent. We discuss priority use-cases for FBD, and strategies for the implementation. We also highlight the major challenges such as data management, policy and regulatory frameworks, stakeholder engagement, the need for multidisciplinary collaborations and the importance of robust monitoring and evaluation, aiming to bolster Africa's preparedness and response to future health threats

International migration and the rainbow nation

Recent statistics suggest that emigration from South Africa is accelerating while documented immigration remains at low levels. Primary analysis of a 10% sample of the overseas-born I South Africa from the 1996 census confirmed that black immigrants to South Africa were shown to be predominantly unskilled males who were no better qualified that the black population in general. This contrasts with the apartheid era when South Africa built up a stock of overseas-born skilled workers, mostly whites, which was not replenished in the 1990s, partly because of restrictive immigration policies. The analysis confirms the importance of human capital to potential emigrants even though they may wish to move for non-economic reasons. It also supports the view that South Africa had moved from a brain exchange of whites to a brain drain, thus compounding a national shortage of skilled workers.

Substance use and sexual behaviour among African adolescents in the North West province of South Africa

The relationship between substance use and sexual behaviour is examined using a sample of African high school students in the North West Province of South Africa. Even though the rate of substance use was generally low compared to other groups that have been studied elsewhere in the country, male and older adolescents were much more likely than female and younger adolescents to use alcohol and marijuana. While alcohol and marijuana use were positively and strongly associated with lifetime sexual activity, only alcohol positively associated with condom use. Finally, even though parental employment status did not affect lifetime sexual activity, when a mother was employed, the adolescent child was more likely to use a condom, while perceived higher socioeconomic status is positively associated with lifetime sexual activity.

Analysing cross-sectional data with time-dependent covariates: the case of age at first birth in South Africa

Analysing time-dependent independent variables requires the use of process-oriented statistical models. Yet social scientists, especially those in poor countries, have often had to use data collected at a single point in time, making their task difficult. Making several assumptions about the covariates, the present study uses survival analysis and other statistical techniques to analyse the 1996 South African population census data and examine the effects of selected independent variables on the timing of parenthood in the country. It was found that the onset of parenthood occurs late in South Africa compared with the pattern in most other African societies. While education plays a role in the postponement of parenthood within racial groups, it fails to explain the differences between African and coloured women on the one hand, and white and Asian women on the other had, a finding that suggests the existence of two regimes of family formation in the South African society.